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5 tips that help you get a replacement faster from Netgear

Attention Netgear NV+ owners:
Certain models of Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ have problems with its PSU (power supply unit) and thus could potentially damage the unit and even become a fire hazard. If you own a ReadyNAS and sense any burning smell, you should STOP using it and ask Netgear for a replacement. Please share this post and tell this to anyone you know who may own a ReadyNAS NV+ ’cause they may not know there was a recall for it (Netgear is quite low-key on this recall……).

I own a ReadyNAS NV+ and i usually leave it running all the time in my basement. One day, there was a strong burning smell coming from downstairs and I quickly searched for the source which turned out to be my Ready NAS NV+ from Netgear. The LED display was toast and the unit refused to boot. I am just glad I was in the house and able to unplug the NAS, who knows what else could have happened? Checking Netgear’s community pages I discovered this is a common problem with particular models of ReadyNAS NV+ and a recall was issued. However, I didn’t receive any notice from Netgear about the recall of their NAS product either by any means.

When contacting Netgear, I found out getting a replacement for a defective product from Netgear is not as simple as I thought. So decided to write down my experience of how to get a replacement from Netgear quickly hoping this may help others who are in similar situation. Here are the 5 tips which will help you get a faster response from Netgear.

Tip 1: Find the receipt and serial number

The first time you contact Netgear abut a product you bought from them, either online or by Phone, they will ask you for certain information about it. If you have the information they need ready, it would make it a lot faster for your case to move to the next level. The information you need to collect before contacting Netgear is :

Serial number of the product (look for a sticker look alike the following image on the box or the back or the bottom of the unit)

Date purchased

purchase from

If you have the serial number of the product or the receipt usually it is enough and go to the next step

Tip 2: Use Internet support over phone support

My past experience taught me that dealing with Netgear’s customer service on the phone can be a real pain. Each time you call you have to listen 20 minutes of moronic marketing messages and 80’s tunes, please!!! Plus each time you call you end up dealing with a different support agent, who may assign you a new case #. On the other hand, online support provides you with a trackable record and you’re usually dealing with the same support staff, they can move your case towards resolution much faster

Tip 3: Register your product online first

Before you ask for a product or part replacement, you should first register the product online. Here is how, If you don’t currently have a Netgear account, head to https://my.netgear.com/registration/login.aspx and click “Continue”. If you already have a Netgear account, log into your account and click “Register new product”. In neither case, make sure you have the information mentioned in Tip2 ready.

Tip 4: Be respectful, patient, but assertive

Though most of the Netgear support staff I dealt with were friendly and helpful. But there are ones whose primary motives were trying to get me off the phone. The dude I spoke to when asking for replacement for my recalled ReadyNAS NV+ told me to go to Walmart and fix it myself. WTF? Instead of being angry and say something stupid like “Can you transfer me to someone who is smarter?”, I told him I would take this up with a Supervisor. About 30 minutes later, he called back to tell me that they were out of this particular part and it would be “days or weeks” (huh?) before they would have that part in stock again. more update on this later… When you get frustrated, try to be calm and act professionally with respect.

Tip 5: Nerver give up

The guy promised to contact me within “days or weeks” never called back. So i decided to find out how many days or weeks it will take to get a response from Netgear. This time i decided to “engage” Netgear though social networks. In recent years, social networks have become increasingly important to create direct communications with customers and build brand loyalty for large companies like Netgear. Here is what you can do to get attention from Netgear online:

I hope these tips are useful for people who are trying to get a product replacement from Netgear smoothly. Please tweet and share this if you like it. If you have any tips of how to get faster responses from Netgear, please write to me so I can share your experience with our readers.

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